2012 pro wrestling awards for JAWBreaker

The top local story is Mike Graham's death in Daytona Beach. Jerry "The King" Lawler's heart attack on a live Monday Night Raw is easily WWE's story of the year.

JEFF WILENJAWBREAKER/ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR

It's time for JAWBreaker's 2012 professional wrestling awards.

As usual, I waited until 2012 was over before posting this. Things do happen.

If you disagree with any of these, please let me know. Also, I'm not perfect. There are about 50 categories, and I may have overlooked someone or something.

TOP 3 LOCAL STORIES

1. Mike Graham dies in Daytona Beach. Graham died at 61 from suicide in Daytona Beach on Oct. 18. Graham, whose real name was Edward Michael Gossett, had a 17-year, in-ring career, topped by being named Pro Wrestling Illustrated's Rookie of the Year in 1972. He held the NWA and AWA Light Heavyweight titles at the same time during the 1980s.

2. John Cena shows up for the Daytona 500 pre-race ceremonies. He even got a verbal jab in on JAWBreaker.

3. Marc Mero speaks at Lourdes Academy in Daytona Beach. What a class individual who is looking out for kids' futures.

WWE

Story: Jerry "The King" Lawler suffers a heart attack on a live Monday Night Raw. There's little such thing as being in the right place at the right time for a heart attack. But Lawler, who seems to have fully recovered, was in good hands Sept. 10. Last year's winner: Randy "Macho Man" Savage dies.

Moment: Brock Lesnar returns to WWE. This is big for three reasons. One, Lesnar was the biggest thing in UFC. Two, he recovered from a major health scare. Three, who thought he would ever return? Yes, Lawler returning was a great moment. Last year's winner: The Rock challenges John Cena to WrestleMania main event.

Angle/feud: CM Punk holding the WWE Championship for the entire year was the top angle. The Shield was the top feud. Last year's winners: Angle was CM Punk. Feud was Randy Orton vs. Christian.

Guest host: I'll give it to Cyndi Lauper showing up on the June 18 Raw. She hadn't been on WWE TV in decades. Last year's winner: The Muppets.

Match: I have three favorite matches: Undertaker beating Triple H with Shawn Michaels as referee at WrestleMania 28, John Cena beating Brock Lesnar at April's Extreme Rules and CM Punk beating Daniel Bryan in May's Over the Limit PPV. All of these matches are blockbusters for different reasons. Since it was on the biggest stage, I'll go with Undertaker-HHH. Last year's winner: John Cena vs. CM Punk at Money in the Bank.

Superstar: This honor is over the long haul, as the MVP award is more of a bonus. Superstar of the Year can also be known as Wrestler of the Year. CM Punk is a clear-cut winner. Last year's winner: Randy Orton.

MVP: Sheamus. Vastly underrated. There was also a strange time when he lost his Superstar status. That should never happen again. John Cena is a solid runner-up choice. Last year's winner: CM Punk.

Tag team: Kane and Daniel Bryan. How could you not give it to these guys? Kofi Kingston and R-Truth are runner-ups. Last year's winners: The Miz and R-Truth.

Rookie: Ryback. It remains to be seen if WWE dropped the ball with Ryback's popularity. I think it was wise to keep the belt on Punk, for what it's worth. I believe Ryback will get his wish of "feed me more." The Shield is runner-up here. Last year's winner: Dolph Ziggler.

Most improved: Dolph Ziggler. I assume he's waiting for the biggest stage of them all to cash in his briefcase. This guy is the real deal. Last year's winner: none.

Women's wrestler: Eve. Not much competition here. Eve didn't wrestle much at time, but she successfully went from a face to a heel -- for what that's worth in the Divas division. Poor, Zack Ryder. Last year's winner: Beth Phoenix.

Diva: AJ Lee. Some don't call her a Diva, but if she's a woman on WWE's roster, she's a Diva. Case closed. Last year's winner: Kelly Kelly.

Rookie Diva: Kaitlyn has stepped her game up. Last year's winner: none.

Quits: Triple H, Brock Lesnar and Chris Jericho could be contenders here. I'll give it to Triple H, as the other ones aren't, for sure, done. HHH isn't surely done either, but his quitting and disappearing off TV has been felt more. Last year's winner: Michelle McCool.

Pay-per-view: April's Extreme Rules, as it had CM Punk-Chris Jericho and John Cena-Brock Lesnar. May's Over the Limit wasn't bad, either. Last year's winner: Money in the Bank.

Most-hyped return: Brock Lesnar. And he passed the tests with flying colors. Last year's winner: The Rock.

Worst idea: The Mystery Raw GM was revealed as Hornswoggle. This was a waste of a potential awesome revelation. Last year's winner: Making the Royal Rumble have 40 wrestlers and not the usual 30 wrestlers.

Second worst idea: WWE adding a third hour to Raw. I know it's all about the money, but it's just too much. Oh, and there's now WWE Main Event, too. Last year's winner: None.

Worst idea: The Hulk Hogan sex tape. I don't see anything good out of this. Last year's winner: Bringing in Chyna for an angle.

DON'T FORGET

Kevin Nash made comments to Grantland.com about wrestling's demise. Nash tells it like it is.

Batista won his MMA debut in October. You can't say he isn't giving it a shot.

Stacy Keibler is dating George Clooney and Torrie Wilson is dating Alex Rodriguez. Which ones will split, or tie the knot, first? That's a tough call. Rodriguez is known to be a player (remember the girls in stands during the playoffs?). Clooney, reportedly, never will settle down.

Another Linda McMahon Senate bid loss. Poor, Linda. All that money spent, and no win.

RIP

These guys were all special for different reasons. It's never fun to look back through my JAWBreakers to see which wrestlers died. This year had less deaths in past years, thankfully, but we lost some more great ones. A solid list can be found here: http://www.garywill.com/wrestling/decwres.htm

Mike Graham died at 61 from suicide in Daytona Beach on Oct. 18. Graham, whose real name was Edward Michael Gossett, had a 17-year, in-ring career, topped by being named Pro Wrestling Illustrated's Rookie of the Year in 1972. He held the NWA and AWA Light Heavyweight titles at the same time during the 1980s.

Brad Armstrong died at 51 from undisclosed medical issues in Kennesaw, Ga., on Nov. 1. Armstrong, whose real name was Robert Bradley James, had a 31-year, in-ring career. They were topped by runs in the National Wrestling Alliance (1980s) and World Championship Wrestling (1990s).

Chief Jay Strongbow fell at his home in late 2011 and never recovered. He died April 3 at 83.